Imaging the Surface of Altair
Abstract
Spatially resolving the surfaces of nearby stars promises to advance our knowledge of stellar physics. Using optical long-baseline interferometry, we constructed a near-infrared image of the rapidly rotating hot star Altair with a resolution of <1 milliarcsecond. The image clearly reveals the strong effect of gravity darkening on the highly distorted stellar photosphere. Standard models for a uniformly rotating star cannot explain our findings, which appear to result from differential rotation, alternative gravity-darkening laws, or both.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- July 2007
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1143205
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0706.0867
- Bibcode:
- 2007Sci...317..342M
- Keywords:
-
- ASTRONOMY;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 24 pages. to appear in Science. includes Report and Supplemental Online Materials. Accompanying animation can be found at http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~monnier/Altair2007/altair2007.html